I have been asked for more specific details about where I will be and when so ...
Friday 28th October to Monday 1st November
Hanoi - A few days to have a look around and I meet up with Lucy and Lee on the Saturday. Monday evening we board the Reunification Express for our overnight train journey down to Hue.
Tuesday 2nd November
We reach Hue in the early morning. After disembarking from the train, we’ll take a short spell to refresh in our hotel rooms before mounting our local ‘shopping’ bikes, as they’re known here, and cycling down to the riverside. Here, we’ll place the bikes on board our ‘Dragon Boat’, and enjoy a leisurely cruise up the timeless Perfume River. You have the choice of cycling back into town from here, approximately 8kms, or staying on the boat to head back down river to the Citadel. (Guess we all know what I'll be doing!) We can spend a couple of hours exploring Hue’s massive walled citadel and the Forbidden Purple Palace enclosed within. The bikes are ours for the remainder of the day, and you may choose to cycle out to one of the Royal tombs. Alternatively today, your tour leader may opt to arrange a motorcycle tour of the sights in Hue and some surrounding villages. Now motorcycles sound more like it!
Wednesday 3rd to Friday 5th November
On Wednesday we have an enjoyable four-hour drive to Hoi An in the afternoon, through a region of Vietnam that’s blessed with magnificent rural and coastal scenery. We include a tour of the “Old Town”. In your free time afterwards we can rent bicycles and set off to explore the surrounding countryside, take a boat trip on the river, relax on the nearby beach, enjoy the wonderful cuisine on offer at some of the town’s numerous cheap cafes, or have some clothes made up. Hoi An has nearly 100 silk shops offering same-day service for tailor made clothes at unbelievably low prices. If you’d like to venture further a field, it’s only a short trip up the road to Vietnam’s world famous China Beach and the adjacent Marble Mountains. If you’d like to learn more about the Kingdom of Champa, the ancient ruins at My Son can be visited inside half a day. Depending on the train schedule, we plan to leave Hoi An on Friday mid-morning and drive back into Danang then take the day train from here to Nha Trang.
Saturday 6th to Sunday 7th November
Island Cruise - We’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the sun during our two full days in Nha Trang, and we’ll head out onto the water for the day to cruise around the islands. Bring your towel and swimmers because there’s a stack of time for swimming and snorkelling. At lunchtime our crew will serve up a sumptuous feast of freshly caught seafood and other delights for non-fish eaters. On Sunday evening, we board the Reunification Express for the final time and make our overnight journey to Saigon.
Monday 8th November
Saigon - We wake to the sounds of frenzied activity this morning as our train rolls to a halt at Saigon railway station. Our hotel is centrally located and convenient to all of the city’s best restaurants, bars, nightclubs and most interesting sights. To make the most of your time, you might like to consider hiring a ‘cyclo’ (bicycle rickshaw) for touring the city sights.
Tuesday 9th November
Saigon - Cu Chi Tunnels - Take a spare shirt with you this morning because we’re literally going to ‘get down and get dirty’. Begun by the Viet Minh and later expanded by the Viet Cong, Cu Chi’s tunnels were constructed to conduct covert operations and then quickly hide from the enemy. There are reputed to be around 200 kilometres of underground tunnels within the area. Needless to say Lucy and I will wait whilst Lee explores these! After lunch back in Saigon, we can spend our last afternoon in Vietnam shopping in the city’s main business district, or take a fascinating cyclo ride through the busy city streets to Saigon’s Chinatown district, Cholon.
Wednesday 10th November
Phnom Penhhen - It’s going to take us the best part of the day to drive there. Along the way, we pass the place where the young girl, Kim Phuc, was tragically burned with Napalm during the Vietnam/American war. You may be aware of the novel about her life story, “The Girl in the Picture”. Once we reach the border, we say farewell to our Vietnamese tour leader and cross over to pick up our new Cambodian leader. After crossing the Mekong River we drive on to Phnom Penh, arriving mid to late afternoon. Shortly before dinner this evening, your tour leader will hold a brief group meeting to outline the tour program over the next five days.
Thursday 11th November
This morning we travel by cyclo for a sightseeing tour of Phnom Penh to include the Royal Palace and the infamous Tuol Sleng Prison. We then join our bus to visit another reminder of the Khmer Rouge atrocities. Just as horrifying, the Choeung Ek killing fields are situated 15 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh. After this sobering morning we visit the Russian Market before having the rest of the day exploring Phnom Penh city by ourselves.
Friday 12th to Sunday 14th November
Siem Reap - Angkore leave Phnom Penh this morning by private bus and make our way to Siem Reap. We follow the Tônlé Sap River passing through fishing villages before crossing over the river and travelling through farming communities. Late this afternoon we catch our first glimpse of what we’ve come here for when we drive out to the magnificent Angkor temple complex to watch the sunset from Phnom Bakheng.Our local tour guide will take us on an informative day-long tour of Angkor. At the end of the day, we return to our hotel in Siem Reap. Sunday has been set aside to allow us to do some exploring on our own. We have the option this morning of visiting the rose-coloured Banteay Srei Temple or returning to Angkor to wander through the ruins at leisure. However, if you are feeling a little ‘templed-out’ you might prefer to consider hiring a local guide and going out into the countryside to discover facets of rural life that have changed little.
Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th November
Just when you thought it was time to relax, we sling our packs (and ourselves) into local mini-vans for an adventurous, and bumpy, four-hour road journey to the Cambodian/Thai border town of Poipet. After we’ve made the crossing and shaken off the dust, we continue on to the Thai border town of Aranya Prathet and stop for lunch. The final leg of our overland journey is made in the relative comfort of our private bus to Bangkok. The drive from Aranya Prathet to Bangkok should take us no more than 4-5 hours arriving into Bangkok in the late afternoon. Once in Bangkok, it’s time to relax and take it easy after your epic adventure.
We then have a few days in a hotel just the three of us to explore Bangkok. I have taken the above from the tour information, but have cut a lot out, this gives you the basics of where the three of us will be for the first tour. Will find the details of the second tour and check when it starts and then let you all know about that one as well.
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